


Love Languages and the Price of Friendship

by thatoldeblackmagic



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship is Magic, Gen, Gift Giving, feelings are hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 19:20:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14551632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatoldeblackmagic/pseuds/thatoldeblackmagic
Summary: It’s just a normal supply run.  Beau happened to draw the short stick and got sent out to buy some more adventuring shit so they won’t die as soon as they leave the city.  Jester had shoved 3 silver in her hand and said “If you happen to see any candy could you maybe buy some for me, please and thank you!”, before skipping away to go bother Caleb or something.  So really this is all Jester’s fault.or, Beau buys a present.





	Love Languages and the Price of Friendship

It’s just a normal supply run. Beau happened to draw the short stick and got sent out to buy some more adventuring shit so they won’t die as soon as they leave the city. Jester had shoved 3 silver in her hand and said “If you happen to see any candy could you maybe buy some for me, please and thank you!”, before skipping away to go bother Caleb or something. So really this is all Jester’s fault. 

Because the candy store just happens to be next to the most ridiculous looking shop Beau has ever seen. The front door is a blindingly bright fuchsia with swirling golds, blues, and greens painted haphazardly across the door, spilling onto the front walls of the store. The windows are filled with fabrics and gems and all sorts of gaudy bullshit that is probably overpriced and terrible quality. The door and windows are all closed, but the heavy scent of incense is thick in the air surrounding the shop. It’s the kind of store that past-Beau would glace at, scoff, then move along without a second thought. 

But. There’s a bracelet sitting atop a cushion in the front window. It’s a curling metal piece made to look like a peacock feather that wraps from mid forearm all the way up to the wearer’s wrist. The metal is inlaid with a metric shit ton of (fake probably) gems that give the feather a more realistic coloration and makes it glitter in the sunlight. It’s garish and flashy and exactly something that Molly would love.

“Fucking really.” Beau says as she stands outside the shop hedging her bets. She could just tell Molly about the store. Just let him run buckwild and buy whatever kitschy bullshit he wanted without her ever having to go inside. But they’re leaving early tomorrow morning. They’ve run their course through this town, and this last minute supply run really is last minute, with half the shops locked up already as the sun dips lower behind the horizon. By the time she makes it back to the inn, the shop will most likely already be closed for the night.

She could just not say anything. She could take the candy and the supplies, head back to the inn, and never say a word. Though, for some reason that thought leaves a sour taste in her mouth. It’s just, if there situations were reversed, Molly would buy whatever it was without a second thought because he’s like that for some reason. He loves to give presents as much as he likes to recieve them. Hell, the other day he handed Beau a new set of earrings after one of her old ones fell out during a fight, said “You look naked without ‘em”, fucking winked, and walked away. 

So she has to. Or really, if she’s being honest, she wants to. 

“Fuck!” Beau says as she speed walks through the bright front door. If she’s really doing this, better get it over with quickly before anyone sees her.

The whole store is a barrage on the senses. Everything is bright, everything is patterned, and somehow everything sparkles even though the lighting inside is dim at best. A light coating of glitter falls slowly from the ceiling, never seeming to end, yet never hitting the floor, because of course this shop would have fucking eternal enchanted glitter. The incense smoke is now visibly hanging in the air and it reminds her of when Caleb is forced to hotbox his bedroom with incense every time some asshole Crownsgaurd decides to kick Frumpkin. Quickly, Beau makes her way to the counter where a tall, beautiful, technicolored elf is standing.

Beau points at the bracelet, “How much?”

Tall, bright and handsome smiles and shifts forward to lean on the counter. The movement makes the multitude of gems and jewelry adorning their visage clink together, almost sounding like windchimes. “Oh sweetheart you’ve got a good eye.” They wink. Beau blanches. “A fine handcrafted bracelet like that is gonna run you five silver.” 

“Bullshit.” Beau mumbles, because it really is. That trashy piece of junk is probably only worth one silver at most, maybe two if the metal is good quality. But she’s already reaching into her bag, digging for the silver, because she’s learned from experience that she’s absolute shit at haggling. Beside, she’s not broke. They’ve been making some pretty good coin as mercenaries and if it costs her four silver for a nice gesture then Molly better fucking appreciate it. 

She slams the silver on the counter and quickly turns on her heel toward the window display. Snatching up the bracelet, she turns back toward the elf behind the counter. “We square?”

They have one manicured eyebrow raised in an amused look. “We’re square. I appreciate your patronage and hope that you come again.” And of all the fucking things to do, they blow Beau a kiss. Gods, Beau is so glad Molly never found this shop. If he and this gorgeous, obnoxious elf ever met, there would be absolutely no living with him after that.

Beau hastily proceeds to get the fuck out of there. She shoves the bracelet deep in an inside pocket of her cloak and heads back to the inn, rushing in doubletime to try and shake off the lingering incense and residual sparkle clinging to her hair. What a weird store. What a weird, psychedelic, fever dream of an establishment.

It’s more than halfway back to the inn that Beau realises this means she actually has to give the bracelet to Molly as a gift. Like physically present an object that she personally picked out because she thought that Molly would like it. Molly, who is a complete ass but for some reason Beau has started to like as a person despite that fact. Gods, why did she do this again? Is this what it's like to be a good person with friends that they care about? Because it sucks.

She loiters outside the inn for a bit when she finally reaches it, debating on the best way to go about this whole clusterfuck of a situation. Maybe she can just slip it in his pocket. Maybe she can knock him out, slap it on his wrist, and play dumb when he wakes up with some fancy new bling. Or maybe Beau can just suck it up, give him the damn thing, then fucking bolt. 

Shit. They’re all bad options. 

Though, no matter what she ends up doing, Beau is starting to look like a creep just standing outside the inn. With a frustrated huff of air, she kicks open the door to find the rest of her party sitting around a table in the main tavern area, drinks in hand. “What the fuck guys?” Beau says as she dumps the bags of her purchases onto the table. “You started drinking without me?” 

“We got one for you Beau!” Jester pipes up, snatching a tankard up off the table and presses it into Beau’s hands. She’s smiling so widely that Beau immediately forgives them all.

“Thanks Jester. Oh, wait.” Beau says as shifts the tankard into one hand, and uses the other to dig through her front pocket. “I have something for you too.” Then with a bit of maneuvering, she manages to extract a decently sized bag of candy and plops it onto the top of Jester’s head.

Jester gasps in excitement, reaching up to grab the bag, and replies in a rush, “Oh my god Beau thank you so much you are the best! This is so much candy! I’m going to be sugar high for weeks!” 

“In moderation, Jester.” says Fjord, ever the group dad. “You don’t want to waste all of it before we even hit the road” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure. Sounds good.” Jester replies as she tears through the bag. Nott is already peering over Jester’s shoulder to look through the candy as well, with Caleb keeping a careful eye on the whole scene. 

They all seem distracted by the endless ball of hyperactive energy that is Jester, with only Molly and Yasha still engaged in conversation. And shit, this is probably the best chance Beau is gonna get. Beau knows that Yasha would be the last person to tease her for being nice to Molly, and hopefully this whole candy scene will hold the other’s attention enough that she can stealth her way through a kind gesture. Maybe. Hopefully. 

So, Beau rounds the table and plops down into the chair next to Molly. As quickly and nondescript as she can, Beau pulls the bracelet out of her cloak, drops it into Molly’s lap, and crosses her arms. “I found this ugly bracelet and figured you could wear it.” She says without even looking at Molly.

She can just see out of her periphery Molly inspecting the jewelry, carefully picking it up and turning it one way, then the other. Then, he turns to her, twisting so he’s directly in her line of sight and says, “What is this? Is it cursed? If I put it on will it kill me or something?”

What. “What?” Beau asks because does he really think she would give him something like that? “No, It’s just super gaudy and blingy and I know you really like gaudy, blingy shit, so…” Beau trails off, crossing her arms even tighter across her chest. “So, yeah.”

“So, yeah.” Molly repeats, giving her a considering look. “By ‘found’ do you mean that you bought this bracelet? For me?” Beau shrugs, and tries to look past him, focusing on Yasha instead, which to be honest, isn't the best idea since Yasha is fucking smiling just the smallest bit which makes Beau’s face heat up instantly. 

At this point, the rest of the group has begun to shift their attentions over to Beau and Molly’s side of the table which really isn’t helping the whole Beau blushing situation. Beau decides to fix her eyes on the wood grain of the table and replies, “Does it matter?”

There’s a beat of silence, before Molly laughs. It's a small chuckle that immediately makes Beau bristle. She flicks her gaze up to Molly, looking for any sort of mocking condescension, and is surprised to find only a bright, open grin. “Well then!” he says, still smiling, and slides the bracelet onto his left wrist. With a flourish, he holds up his arm, letting the torchlight catch on the gems and send reflective pinpricks of light scattering over the table. “You’re right. I really do love gaudy, blingy shit.” Then quickly, before Beau can react, Molly brings his arm back down and wraps Beau into a tight side-hug complete with a loud, smacking kiss to her cheek. 

“Holy shit Molly, ew!” Beau grumbles and tries in vain to wipe away the remainder of the kiss. It’s a bit hard when she’s still half tucked into Molly’s side, and instead of leaning away, Molly has doubled over laughing onto her shoulder. 

Jester is laughing too, a light, pleased giggle, while Fjord just looks on with an approving grin. “Ugh.” Beau says as she tries to shove Molly off of her. “Shut up guys. I hate you all.”

“We have not said anything,” Caleb replies with a slight quirk to his mouth which, for him, is practically full on laughter. What a jackass.

Beau is getting ready to say something rude back when Molly lightly tugs on her ponytail to get her attention. He’s still half-leaning on her shoulder, and has made no further attempts to move, though Beau finds that weirdly enough she doesn’t mind. Still, she won’t admit that, so she says, “What do you want obnoxious one?”

Molly grins widely, like its a nickname rather than an insult, and replies, “Just to say thank you, unpleasant one. Truly, thank you.”

And just like that, Beau’s had about enough of this whole feel-good friendship bullshit. She’s sure her face is glowing red from embarrassment, so she takes a deep swig from her tankard and hopes that it will come off as a flush from the alcohol. Everyone in the group is staring at them now, with their own version of the same slightly condescending smile, so in attempt to deflect Beau slams her tankard onto the table and points at Nott. “You. Me. Drinking contest. Get fucking ready.”

Nott perks up immediately, and scrambles to pick up the tankard in front of her. “I’m already 4 drinks in, so you better catch up quickly Beau.” She says, before straight up chugging the tankard in her hand.

“Wait, that’s not how a drinking contest works!” Beau scrambles out before picking up the tankard once more. “Caleb, keep count and make sure Nott doesn’t cheat!” Then Beau tips the tankard back and chugs.

Beau loses, of course, but somehow she can’t find it in herself to feel upset about it. It’s a bit hard to feel upset about anything when Molly keeps flaunting his new piece of jewelry and can’t seem to wipe the grin from his face. It makes Beau grin in return, and a warm floaty feeling seems to make a permanent residence inside her chest.

She definitely overpaid for the bracelet, and there is definitely still enchanted glitter in her hair, but if five silver is all it takes to make someone she cares for this happy, then hell, Beau decides then and there that she’d pay that price ten times over. Maybe there’s something to be said for this whole gift giving thing after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Will all my critical role fics end with Molly happy, affectionate, and loving his life? Hell yeah.  
> Anyway Beau and Molly's friendship is my bread and butter.


End file.
